


The Artist

by quiveringbunny



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Get on the List, Help Defeat Blood Cancer, OTA, Original Team Arrow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2018-07-12
Packaged: 2019-06-09 13:57:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15268938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quiveringbunny/pseuds/quiveringbunny
Summary: I wrote a little insight into John Diggle that might be interesting to some. I like to think at least one member of OTA pursues a visual art.





	The Artist

**Author's Note:**

> This story was created to draw attention to the OTA-Inspires campaign. The goal is to get people to sign up for the national bone marrow registry via the https://getinvolved.dkms.org/otainspired
> 
> There will be more content coming!

**OTA - The Artist**

 

John Diggle liked to paint. It was something he started doing in high school in an elective class. The teacher was encouraging and helped him learn basic techniques while trying his hand with oils and acrylics. He found he was pretty good at it. Then he enlisted in the Army and his paints were packed away before he headed off to Basic Training.

Years later, between his first and second tours in Afghanistan, John brought out his paints again. He found he needed to separate himself from stressful thoughts and disturbing memories. With a brush and a canvas, he could settle his mind and focus. Mixing colors made him smile and a simple brushstroke, well-executed, gave him satisfaction.

********

Once Team Arrow was established, Felicity Smoak was the first to learn of John’s creative outlet. The young woman had stopped by his place to talk to him about a disagreement she had with Oliver in the Lair earlier that evening and Diggle assured her he was always available to talk. 

Felicity toured his a apartment and marveled at the beautiful art decorating his walls. 

“You painted all of these? John Diggle, you are a man of hidden talents.”

“Thank you. Felicity.” A sparkle filled his eye and he smiled gently. 

“I think this one is my favorite,” she whispered, homing in on a portrait of a woman leaning on her hand in thought. “She looks so strong and beautiful,” Felicity continued. 

 

[ ](https://imgur.com/txNb3TJ)

 

“My Aunt Beryl. She was like a second mom to me growing up. Took me to museums and galleries whenever she could. We had a game where we would each pick our favorite painting and then argue why it was the best. Aunt Beryl had a good eye and man, she was tough and could make a strong case for whichever one she picked. She helped me see things.”

 “Like what?”

“She wasn’t trained as an artist, but she was really observant and sensitive. She would say, ‘Don’t just look at the color on top, Johnny. Look at the layers beneath that are trying to tell you something, or ‘This one is about heartache, kid...you can see it in the light. That kind of thing.”

“I bet she was proud when you painted this.”  

John’s face relaxed from his grin. “Actually, she never saw it. She passed away during my first tour overseas. COPD. I did this one off a photograph I had of her. She liked blue. Obviously.” 

“Oh, I’m sorry, John,” Felicity touched his arm gently.

“Yeah, she got to see some of my earlier paintings though and was definitely the president of my fan club.” 

“I’ll bet.”

“Aunt Beryl was actually the one who inspired me to enlist. She worked in the Army military police. Not in the field, but she was still a badass. A bit like you.”

Felicity chortled at that. 

“Me? A badass? I don’t think so.” 

“Oh, I think we both know that’s not true, Felicity Smoak.” 

He watched her stare into the painting of Aunt Beryl again, as if she was looking for something she could recognize. A similar strength in her jaw? A sparkle in her eye? Diggle then watched the young woman roll her shoulders and stand a little straighter. He knew he had her pegged.

“So, tell me, what did that idiot do tonight that sent you over here?”

“Oh,” she huffed. “You won’t believe it. Oliver Queen is exasperating.” Felicity moved to the brown leather sofa and plopped herself down like a rag doll. 

“Tell me about it,” he replied as he moved toward the kitchen. “But let me see if I have some ice cream first.”

“John, is there room in that fan club of yours? Because I’m so in.”

The man smiled all the way to the freezer. 

The following year, John painted Felicity. They were in the midst of a night of chaos and the look of concern, strength and humanity on her face seared into his memory. He did not tell her about the painting, but she did see it years later when Diggle gifted it to Oliver for his birthday. Oliver adored that painting of his beautiful girl for the rest of his life and delighted in telling his children and grandchild that Uncle John was a gifted painter and he was a lucky man. 

 

[ ](https://imgur.com/MjrRrO4)

   

******

As Oliver Queen’s “driver” for some time, John had occasion to see his employer in all kinds of situations at work, at his night job, and many moments in between. From time to time, he was struck by the younger man’s troubled spirit. Sure, he was broody, but there was more to it than that. When he thought he was alone, Oliver looked like Atlas, waiting for Zeus to place the Earth on his shoulders. Often he could be found with his head down, deep in thought. 

Oliver discovered John’s interest in painting when he made an unannounced visit to apologize for being an ass. It would be another year before Oliver realized that the paintings hanging in John’s house were mostly his own work. It impressed the hell out of him and he realized how much his friend was still a mystery to him. After that, Oliver tried harder to connect and learn as much about John Diggle as he could. This was a step that eventually sealed them as brothers, rather than just partners. 

When they all believed that Oliver was dead at the hand of Ra’s Al Ghul, John gave Felicity a piece he completed some weeks before - a painting of Oliver. He wasn’t sure, at first, if it was a good idea. It wasn’t a light-hearted image. But she wept and told him it was perfect. She had cherished photographs of the man she loved smiling, but this portrait captured the soul of the Oliver they both knew and loved - deeply thoughtful and a bit sad. 

 

[ ](https://imgur.com/bRkdXbp)

******

 

John Diggle rarely received a commissioned painting request, but when the Star City Museum contacted him to do a painting of two of the city’s most notable residents, former mayor Oliver Queen and his wife, Felicity Smoak-Queen, his acceptance was immediate. Honestly, he had no idea how they knew he painted at all. He guessed that his wife, Lyla, had quietly put the word around. Still, he was excited and pleased for the request. 

John already knew how the finished work would look in his mind - hopeful. That was the reason for Team Arrow in the first place. If they did not firmly believe that they could be successful in their mission to make their city better, all of the bravery and risks they had taken nightly would make no difference. 

 

[ ](https://imgur.com/OcgIcej)

The painting came out so well that an anonymous museum patron sent a request for John to do a painting of the Green Arrow. By this point, it was old news that Oliver was the hero and vigilante that looked after Star City for nearly two decades and that John knew the man well. Diggle almost turned down the request, but there was a large donation in play for the Moira Queen Children’s Wing at Star City General and he rethought his position. When Oliver found out about it, he came over to John’s studio, which was basically his version of a man cave above the Diggle’s garage, to take a peek at what John was doing. 

John pulled two craft beers out of a small refrigerator in the kitchenette and opened one to hand to Oliver. it took a moment for the younger man whose hair was more salt than pepper now to pull his eyes away from the massive canvas to take the bottle. 

“Wow, John.” He paused a moment to take a swig of the Belgian Ale. “It’s kind of big, isn’t it?”

It was a large canvas, nearly 7 foot by 5 foot and it dominated the end of the room - the biggest piece he had ever attempted. John studied Oliver’s expression silently. 

“It’s…wow.”

John took a sip and nodded. 

Diggle had outdone himself. Many shades of green swirled together against darkness and a shaft of light revealed a partial face. It was a view of the man that John knew well, but few ever saw, one that unmistakably that of the Hood, the Vigilante, the Arrow and also Oliver Jonas Queen. 

‘It’s just…large, don’t you think, John? I mean…it’s amazing, but it’s kind of…my head, huge like that.”

“Oliver, there’s just something about the Green Arrow…you know…something bigger than life.” 

 

[ ](https://imgur.com/ym3BdQg)

Oliver considered his brother’s words, barely nodded, and took another swig. 

Later, everyone guessed that Felicity Smoak-Queen had been the anonymous donor, when, in fact, it was Ray Palmer, who credited the Green Arrow with the many changes that took place in Star City and his own evolution in life. John Diggle never found out the truth. None of them did.  

As members of Team Arrow, or OTA, as they lovingly referred to themselves, John Diggle, Felicity Smoak and Oliver Queen each had skills and expertise that made them special. Of all of their talents, John’s painting was probably the least useful on the dark streets of the Glades. It was Oliver who assured John that it was his gift- his ability to see beauty all around them and convey it so uniquely — that often reminded Oliver of the world they were fighting to make better, night after night.

the end

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for any kind kudos and comments, but mostly, thank you for considering getting on the list. Once again, the address is: https://getinvolved.dkms.org/otainspired


End file.
